Date published: Sunday 24th February 2019 2:00
Graeme Souness thinks his criticism of Paul Pogba was justified and has claimed the midfielder “never got a kick” in Manchester United’s recent match against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Frenchman, along with the rest of the United squad, had a rotten start to the campaign with the top four looking like a distant dream when Jose Mourinho was sacked in December.
However, Pogba now has six assists and nine goals in 12 appearances since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed as interim manager, with the Red Devils now occupying fourth position in the Premier League.
Souness was a regular critic of Pogba, claiming United had “run out of patience with” him under Jose Mourinho but the former Liverpool midfielder thinks his views were right.
“The stats show that United are running more than they were previously, putting in the hard yards for the new manager in terms of closing down and sprinting back, all the stuff that they weren’t doing for Mourinho,” Souness wrote in his Sunday Times column.
“I was critical of Paul Pogba, in particular, but was I wrong? Look at the difference in him between then and now, and let’s not get carried away either: he never got a kick against PSG, then showed his frustration by lunging at Dani Alves and being sent off.
“I find it disappointing that all of them, not just Pogba, downed tools under Mourinho. I’d have hated to be accused of that in my career, but it appears to be the reality in the modern game when players want a manager out. It was as if they were on an unofficial strike. What else could it be other than that, when you look at the transformation from where they were to where they are now?”
